How scholar Baker compares two English translations of “analisou-se”?

Question

I have a presentation from the book "introducing translation studies" by Jeremy Munday and there is this part that I don’t understand. It’s a little too advanced for me. Could anyone please explain it?

Baker is typical of many translation scholars who make detailed use of the terminology of functional grammar and discourse analysis in that she devotes the most attention to the textual function. Explicit analyses of the ideational and interpersonal functions are fewer (though see section 6.4 later). "Baker focuses more on thematic considerations, comparing nominalization and verbal forms in theme position in a scientific report in Brazilian Portuguese and English "(Baker 2011: 178–9). Thus, for example, the ST begins with a pronominal verbal form (my emphasis):

• Analisou-se as relações da dopamina cerebral com as funções motoras.
  [Analysed-one the relations of dopamine with the motor functions.]

The published English translation presents a normalized word order with the selection of an English passive form in final position (my emphasis):

• The relations between dopamine and motor functions were analysed.

However, for this example Baker recommends a different order of elements (i.e. a different thematic structure) so as to meet the genre conventions of English abstracts. This involves the use of the nominalization analysis in first position as the ‘theme’ of the sentence, along with a different passive verbal form (is carried out):

• An analysis is carried out of the relations between dopamine and motor functions.

How does she exactly compare "Analisou-se" and "analysis"?

Answer 1

Well, “analisou-se as relações” means that someone analysed the relations, so “an analysis” of the relations was indeed carried out. So it is a free translation, but a correct one.

Now, analisou-se as relações is not a passive form. There is a similar passive form―analisou-se a relação or analisaram-se as relações, where the verb agrees in number with the subject―but in analisou-se as relações there is no such agreement, which means as relações is the object, not the subject.

So, this analisou-se is an active form, and se indicates an unidentified subject, someone not identified or people in general, like one (Oxford Learner’s, sense 5). So as nearly a word-for-word translation as you can get would be one analysed the relations. In some contexts people will understand that this se refers to the speaker or a group that includes the speaker, and in this case it most likely refers to the authors, in which case analisou-se really means nós analisamos (past tense, in European Portuguese also analisámos) or ’we analysed‘.

Now, one analysed probably doesn’t sound good, and if you don’t want to go for we analysed, then you have to resort to a passive form. The published translation “The relations … were analysed” is correct. Now this goes well beyond my translation skills, but I think what Baker wants is to start the sentence with the “analysing”, as the Portuguese original does. You can’t do that with were analysed, hence the “An analysis was carried out…”